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<h1><a href="https://archiveofourown.org/works/28827306">Take Care</a> by <a class='authorlink' href='https://archiveofourown.org/users/propertyofpoeandbucky/pseuds/propertyofpoeandbucky'>propertyofpoeandbucky</a></h1>

<table class="full">

<tr><td><b>Series:</b></td><td>Steve Rogers [35]</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Category:</b></td><td>Marvel Cinematic Universe</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Genre:</b></td><td>Eating Disorders, Gen, Platonic Relationship, trigger warning</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Language:</b></td><td>English</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Status:</b></td><td>Completed</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Published:</b></td><td>2021-01-18</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Updated:</b></td><td>2021-01-18</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Packaged:</b></td><td>2021-05-13 12:36:03</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Rating:</b></td><td>Teen And Up Audiences</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Warnings:</b></td><td>Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Chapters:</b></td><td>1</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Words:</b></td><td>837</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Publisher:</b></td><td>archiveofourown.org</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Story URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/works/28827306</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Author URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/users/propertyofpoeandbucky/pseuds/propertyofpoeandbucky</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Summary:</b></td><td><div class="userstuff">
              <p>As requested by anonymous:  Would an imagine where the reader has eating struggles and is very underweight be okay? And it’s like Steve notices this and helps them work out and stuff, not like in a relationship but just like big brother (not literally, just like friends) or best friend Steve? If you can’t then it’s totally okay it’s just that there’s a lack of anorexia imagines here and I wish we had something to make us feel normal</p>
            </div></td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Relationships:</b></td><td>Steve Rogers &amp; Reader, Steve Rogers &amp; You, Steve Rogers/Reader, Steve Rogers/You</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Series:</b></td><td>Steve Rogers [35]</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Series URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/series/2113500</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Kudos:</b></td><td>10</td></tr>

</table>

<a name="section0001"><h2>Take Care</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Author's Note:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
      <p>I have a friend who dealt with anorexia and I spoke with her about her experiences. so most of this is based off of the information she gave me. sorry if your experiences are different!</p>
    </blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>Steve sat across the dinner table watching you. You were too busy talking to Sam to notice his staring. His eyes were constantly glancing from your plate to you. Despite the minimal amount on your plate, Steve has yet to see you take a bite of your food at least once within the hour everyone sat down for dinner. </p><p>The fork in your hand pushed food along the plate, appearing as thought you’ve eaten. But Steve knew. </p><p>In-between pauses, he’d see you take a sip of water, but that was it. He also noticed how much weight you’ve lost. Your face seeming less full, more sunken. Your skin less glowing, more dull. He’s also noticed how more weak and tired you were. </p><p>Something was wrong. And, as your best friend, he was going to figure out what. </p><p>_______________________</p><p>It was your turn to clear the table and do the dishes which gave Steve the perfect moment to talk to you. So while everyone cleared out and moved to the lounge for some post-dinner laziness, Steve stayed behind.</p><p>“You don’t have to help, Stevie. I got it!” you shot him a smile, one that he’s noticed hasn’t reached your eyes. </p><p>“Actually, I wanna talk to you about something,” he murmured as he picked up the dirty plates and utensils from the table.</p><p>“About what?”</p><p>“Why aren’t you eating?”</p><p>You paused at picking up the leftover bowl of clam chowder, ‘What do you mean? I ate.”</p><p>Steve shook his head, “I was watching you, Y/N. You didn’t eat. All you did was push your food around and take sips of water. Not once did I see that fork meet your mouth.”</p><p>You scoffed, “So I wasn’t hungry tonight. Big deal.” You moved to bring the left over dishes of food to the counter to put them into small containers. </p><p>Steve followed you, “See, that’s the thing. It isn’t much of a big deal if it was a one time thing, but I’m sure it’s not. It seems to me that you’re not eating at all, Y/N, And that is, in fact, a very big deal.”</p><p>“How would you know I’m not eating Steve? And why are you on my ass about it?!”</p><p>“Because you’re my best friend and I care about you! Look at you, Y/N! You’re not yourself! You’re thinning out at an incredibly unhealthy rate. You’re always tired, your face looks hollow. This isn’t good for you, Y/N!”</p><p>“I can’t just eat everything back, Steve!”</p><p>“Why not?”</p><p>You groaned in frustration, “It’s not that simple!” you slammed your fist onto the counter, shaking the dishes. Your shoulders rose and fell with the hard pants, “It’s so complicated, Steve. I…I know I should eat and I’ve tried. But it’s so hard for me to keep the food down. I always feel like I need to throw it all back up. I just..” you let out a sob, “I’m sorry.”</p><p>Steve moved closer to you, pulling you into his arms, “Hey. You don’t have to apologize. I’m not mad at you. Just worried. You can’t go through this alone, Y/N.”</p><p>“What do I do?” you looked at him with teary red eyes.</p><p>“I’m gonna help you get through this. I imagine this is a difficult thing for you, so we shouldn’t rush through it. We’re gonna have to take baby steps. That sound alright?”</p><p>You nodded, “Yeah. I’m sorry I didn’t tell you, Steve. I didn’t want you or anyone else to feel bad for me.”</p><p>“I forgive you, Y/N.”</p><p>_______________________</p><p>From then on, Steve sat beside you during breakfast, lunch, and dinner. He made sure to watch you, encourage you to take even little bites for every meal. Sure, it wasn’t enough to sustain you, but it was progress. </p><p>He also made sure to have you drink things that weren’t water. Protein shakes and smoothies were something that Steve heavily relied on to provide you some energy and protein. He’s give you ounces of them at a time until you felt comfortable with taking more. It still wasn’t enough for you to gain your full health back, but again, it’s progress. </p><p>Some days were better than others. </p><p>Some days, you just wanted to give up. Your brain was telling you to stop eating and drinking all together. It was easier that way. </p><p>You would lash out at Steve, pushing him away from being so over-bearing. Yelling at him that he wasn’t your mom or dad, needing to take care of you. </p><p>It always ended up the same whenever you lashed out or broke down. </p><p>He’d give you space and wait it out until you came back to him later, apologizing and breaking down even more. </p><p>You felt so guilty for having Steve look after you. But time and time again, he never truly left you to fend for yourself. He was your best friend and he would always be there to take care of you. One baby step at a time.</p>
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